Album Review: The City Lights - I Just Got To Believe

Sydney's The City Lights have been taking punk back into the garage since they released Escape From Tomorrow Today in 2004. I Just Got To Believe is their third album proper, and first in five years, and offers more of the same strident fare that has helped bolster their passionate fanbase. In that time the carousel has kept turning, with members touring with other bands, yet the core – the Roden brothers James and Harry, and Graeme Trewin – have stayed ardently true to their roots, emulating the melodic punch of '60s British rock and '70s blue collar punk. The title mirrors the time and effort to bring the record to light, and it brims with energy, verve and a touch of mortality – these guys know that rock is their lifeblood, and spend 25 minutes ensuring that you feel the same.

The incessant hustle of Without People You're Nothing, the first single off the album, embodies what The City Lights have always done well – simple yet driving rock that sinks its teeth into melodies and shakes them ferociously. The production is stripped right back, bringing the songs the sweaty urgency that the band bring to their live performance, and it acts as a breath of fresh air. Elsewhere there is the snotty Oh No!, the '70s whimsy of Like I Do, and the soaring raucousness of What A Day. The album closes on a surprisingly heart-tugging high with Makes Me Want To Cry, an affecting love letter to a daughter.

It's a short blast of a record and an honest testimony of a band that live and breathe rock'n'roll.